On 04/12/2007, at 11:03 AM, Nick Arnett wrote:
>
> I'm pointing out that there's a correlation between skepticism about  
> science
> and good science.  The country that includes a lot of skeptics about  
> science
> is the same country that excels in science.  Therefore, one may leap  
> to the
> conclusion that skepticism about science causes good science.

If it's true scepticism, and not denialism. The US is a leader of  
science in spite of it's religiosity, not because of it. And the US is  
squandering its lead - Florida and Texas are both about to be hit by  
creationist school boards trying to get round prior rulings, and the  
only thing saving America from losing increasing chunks of its  
population to nonsense is the courts. It's a line that's holding, but  
a Supreme Court reversal would be a disaster.

>  Or one can
> think more rationally and realize that there are other factors, such  
> as
> freedom or wealth, that cause both science and skepticism to thrive.

The first of which is being restricted, the second is increasingly  
concentrated in fewer hands.

Charlie
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